Safety tips for the adventure tourist visiting Panama
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Anselmo Moreno retains Bantamweight Title
Anselmo Moreno of Panama has retained his World Boxing Assn. bantamweight title in Poitiers, France, with a split decision over Mahyar Monshipour of France.
Moreno (26-1-1) kept his composure Saturday as Monshipour pressured strongly between the eighth and 10th rounds. Two of the judges scored the bout 116-113 and 116-112 in favor of Moreno, while the third gave the fight to Monshipour, 115-113.
Moreno, whose only loss was in 2002, started strongly, catching Monshipour with a left hook in the first round and several sharp jabs in the second.
Moreno (26-1-1) kept his composure Saturday as Monshipour pressured strongly between the eighth and 10th rounds. Two of the judges scored the bout 116-113 and 116-112 in favor of Moreno, while the third gave the fight to Monshipour, 115-113.
Moreno, whose only loss was in 2002, started strongly, catching Monshipour with a left hook in the first round and several sharp jabs in the second.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Earthquake shakes Panama
WASHINGTON — An earthquake measuring magnitude six shocked Panama early Saturday. There were no reports of casualties or damage, said the US Geological Survey report.
The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 1:49 am (0649 GMT), was located 97 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of the capital Panama City.
The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Ousted Honduran President Travels to Panama
| 01 July 2009 |
Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya traveled Wednesday to Panama, after he delayed plans to return to his own country, where he faces the threat of arrest.
Mr. Zelaya is to attend the inauguration of incoming Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli.
 |
| Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the OAS in Washington, 01 Jul 2009 |
Mr. Zelaya was planning to return to Honduras Thursday, but postponed the trip to coincide with the OAS deadline.
Authorities in the interim Honduran government, led by Roberto Micheletti, have vowed to arrest Mr. Zelaya.
Soldiers forcibly expelled Mr. Zelaya from Honduras Sunday, the day he had planned to hold a referendum on reforming the country's constitution. Critics said he wanted to alter the constitution so he could run for another term - a charge he denies.
Mr. Zelaya says when he returns to Honduras, he will be accompanied by the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador, as well as the heads of the OAS and the U.N. General Assembly.
The interim government's attorney general, Luis Alberto Rubi, says Mr. Zelaya is accused of 18 offenses, including treason and abuse of power. Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez told CNN en Espanol that he would also be charged with drug trafficking.
In an address to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, Mr. Zelaya called his ouster undemocratic and illegal. He said he intends to finish his term, which ends next January.
There have been protests this week in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa both for and against the coup. The city is under a night-time curfew.
The United States has joined other countries and the United Nations in condemning the coup, and calling for the Honduran president to be restored to power.
Spain announced it is withdrawing its ambassador from the Central American country in protest, adding to a list of countries that have recalled their envoys. Also, the United States announced it is suspending joint military activities with Honduras.
Interim President Roberto Micheletti, appointed to the post by parliament, says the only way Mr. Zelaya will return to power is by force.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
Pro-business president takes office in Panama
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Businessman Ricardo Martinelli was sworn in as Panama's new president on Wednesday, promising to start the biggest job-creation push ever in the country.
Martinelli said he wants to make the nation of 3.3 million inhabitants the best place to do business in Latin America.
"The people have given us a clear mandate to bring change to the government, from top to bottom, and that is what we will do," Martinelli said at the ceremony attended by various foreign leaders, including Honduras' ousted president, Manuel Zelaya.
Martinelli, 57, a conservative supermarket magnate, also expressed a desire to become "an active partner" with Colombia and Mexico in the fight against drug trafficking during his five-year term.
One of the new government's proposals is a billion-dollar plan to build a train system for the capital's metropolitan area.
Martinelli's predecessor, Martin Torrijos, launched a $5.25 billion project to increase the Panama Canal's capacity and allow it to accommodate larger ships.
The canal is Panama's economic motor and Martinelli supported its expansion, but the world's economic woes have generated uncertainty over the project, which is receiving $2.3 billion in international financing.
And the country's real-estate boom, another driving force of the economy, has also been affected by the international financial crisis and economic downturn.
Martinelli acknowledged "our administration will not have the resources the previous administration had."
Latin American Construction Might Be Down, But It's Not Out
Note: Latin American Construction Might Be Down, But It's Not Out," at 2:17 GMT June 29 and repeated at 11:36 GMT June 30, misstated the market to which Levy-Yeyati was referring, in the 13th paragraph. Levy-Yeyati intended to refer to Panama, not Brazil. The correct version follows:
By Joan R. Magee
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Not too long ago, real-estate development in Latin America was hot, foreign money was flowing in, and local companies were going public as the construction industry boomed.
The global credit crisis put the brakes on that euphoria, as seen in plummeting commercial and residential expansion, though not all countries in the region have been hit the same way.
One barometer of construction and development is cement output, which is set to decrease 4.1% this year in South America from the previous year. It will fall another 1.4% in 2010, according to a Portland Cement Association report released earlier this month.
The association predicted a 1.7% global decrease in cement consumption for 2009, with growth in China and India masking declines in both developed and developing markets.
Mexico, close to the U.S. both geographically and economically, is one of the worst-hit in the aftermath of the U.S. housing implosion. The country's growth decelerated to 1.3% in 2008 from 3.2% in 2007, and the economy is expected to contract by close to 6% this year.
Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens recently said demand for housing this year will likely fall 7.1% from 2008, even though available financing will be up 2.5%.
The government's National Infrastructure Program calls for public and private investment of around $40 billion a year between 2007 and 2012. And while private investment is down sharply in the current recession, public investment has filled some of the gap, thanks to counter-cyclical government spending.
Public support for infrastructure has been such that shareholders of construction firm Empresas ICA (ICA) have approved a plan to sell up to $350 million in shares to finance infrastructure projects that are already under way or ones the company plans to bid on. And Desarrolladora Homex (HXM), one of the largest Mexican home-building companies, said it expects 8% to 10% revenue growth this year.
Panama, once hyped as a hot destination for U.S. and European retirees looking for second residences, has faltered. Overall construction activity plunged 25% to $97 million in April from $130 million in April 2008, government officials said.
The slowdown follows several years of solid economic growth, buoyed in large part by the Panama Canal widening project. Fast development had even led to concerns about overbuilding among some Panamanian policy makers.
Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, has taken measures to counter a first-quarter drop in construction, which fell 9.8% in year-on-year in the first quarter.
The government recently approved $15.2 billion for low-income housing over the next 15 years, which bodes well for an uptick in growth.
"Most other markets were buttressed not by mortgage credit, but by the incomes of the middle-upper class," said Eduardo Levy-Yeyati, a director and head of emerging markets strategy at Barclays Capital.
The Brazilian economy shrank for a second straight quarter in the first quarter of this year, although the government still has hopes for modest growth in all of 2009, following 5.1% expansion in 2008.
And the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament, though somewhat in the distance, will span 12 cities in Brazil and spur more development.
Brazil's government is already pouring money into World Cup infrastructure, from new hotels to stadiums, in preparation for the waves of tourists to come.
"Construction will weaken as in a typical recession, but will not tank as in the U.S., the U.K. or Spain," Barclays' Levy-Yeyati said.
Indeed, Portland Cement Association predicts cement output in South America will rise 6.9% from 2010 by 2011, auguring a turnaround in the near future.
-By Joan R. Magee, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2672; joan.magee@dowjones.com.
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